The plot of this story , focusing on a seemingly unusual death of Louise Mallard , can be divided into three parts . The first part lies in Richards's occasion access of the sudden accident news of Brently Mallard and his contrived revealing of the news to Louise with the help of latter's sister Josephine . Here, the author employs the devices of flashback at the very beginning of the story , foreshadowing the husband's return with the hint of the unnecessarily accurate "telegram" and a suspense of the wife's "grief of storm" .The second part is featured by the psychological wave of Louise , from instant grief to impulsive joy , from the unconscious repression to the clear knowledge of freedom right before the arrival of the crisis or climax of the whole story---the unexpected "survival" of Brently , indicated by his "latchkey" as it is also the crucial key to the one-hour story. Finally , the self-intoxicated wife is surprised to die from the sight of her husband . And flashback is used for the second time at the very ending : her death is not revealed until the doctor's diagnosis.
             For characters, Louise is the very heroine who dies coincidentally of heart trouble, but actually dies from a psychological contrast of daily mental repression and unpredictable spiritual freedom. To a great degree she could be understood as a typical spokeswoman for modern feminism , the doctrine for social gender equality and female spiritual freedom or liberation. When she tastes the first scent of "new spring life, Louise feels really like drinking in a very "elixir of life". This kind of sharp transformation of her intellectual experience has been a great irony against her later becoming the very victim of the institution of marriage and failed equal love . The other two important figures in the tale , Josephine and Richards , are in fact foil characters to support the ...